Andrew isn't what you'd call a "typical roommate."

He never eats, no matter what. Not even when he cooks the food.

He's very particular about how laundry is folded. I can't count how many times we've gotten into arguments because I don't fold laundry in just the right way.

We mustn't forget how he fails to grasp that like most people, I need to sleep.

He's one of those that has no concept of how different we really are.

I will say, though, that it would be unfair to say that he's totally at fault here. He is an android after all.

Even so, he still manages to add interesting moments due to being synthetic. It's because our experiences are different; we literally experience the world differently. Emotions, imagination, even just the ability to feel pain.

He's missing out, and he doesn't even realize it.

Then came last Tuesday. I remember it was Tuesday because Andrew's annual diagnostic was scheduled for the next day. I was lying on my bed, reading when he came up to my door and knocked softly.

I know it's weird, but I know Andrew; he has whatever's a few steps from a cop knock. Something was up.

He wasn't in usual stance when I opened the door. Normally, he would carry himself- Well, like a human. I know, I know. I know all about how androids are almost exactly like humans. But you look me in the eye and tell me that you wouldn't expect a walking junkyard to have stiff moves.

This time, his head was down. He lightly wrung his hands in front of him. What was really strange, though, was the lack of eye contact. Weird as it sounds, I'd say he was worried, maybe confused.

"Samuel?" he asked. I keep telling, it's Sam. But he "prefers" proper names for now.

"Yo."

"I think I'd like to have one of those talks again."

"Another one? I thought we did this two weeks ago!"

That's right, even though he's an advanced android, there still some things about humans he doesn't quite get. So I help when I can. Last time, I got to explain why the space battles in Star Wars aren't portrayed scientifically accurately; I even had to Google some of his questions right in front of him on my phone.

"That is correct, and I just want you to know, I really appreciate you helping me to get the bang of things."

"That's 'hang'," I sighed.

He quickly realized what he'd said. Only after he swore up and down that it important did I let him in.

"Okay, Andrew. What are we talking about today?"

He gave a heavy sigh, not that he needed to.

"Samuel, I-." I don't know how the hell it was happening, but I could swear he was stammering. He's good, but he's not that good. "I wanted to ask you about death."

Have you ever had that dream where you have to take a test that you haven't studied for? If so, you probably understand why I was now the one stammering. Unfortunately, finding my voice wouldn't be the solution I though it would be.

"Wow," I said. And for a solid minute, that was all I could say. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this. What brought this on?"

"It's Sylvia," he said. She worked as maid for a family a block away from us. A hacker managed to crack Sylvia's firewalls and take control. She had already gotten mom and oldest son, and was going for the youngest. For her crime, she took a .45 hollow point through the head, courtesy of the man of the house, himself. It was the reason androids were now, essentially, second-citizens.

I only said, "I heard."

"She's offline now. I never really understood it, anyway. Not even when it was just humans. But Sylvia was an android. We're supposed to live forever. But now that it's happened to one of us, I-- I don't what to make of it. What to do."

"So, what are you asking?"

"I want to know, Samuel," he said, turning to face me. "I want to know what death really is."

If you ever decide to cohabit with an android, they make you take a test make sure you're safe for the android to be around. They didn't train me for this.

"Well, it's kinda-- It's hard to explain," was how I started. "It's when a person just stops living. Or, if you want scientific accuracy, all organs cease to function." I had to fight off a chuckle at that.

"I am aware of that, Samuel," he replied. There was a faint frustration in his voice. "But what happens, exactly? How does it feel to die?"

"Depends on how they die, I guess. There are a lot of ways to die. There's disasters, injuries, illness. Some people die from just plain being old. There's too many ways to count."

"So it hurts?" Andrew asked. Now, I know I heard a quiver in his voice.

I decided in the moment that he did deserve the truth. "It can."

"How?" he asked me.

"If they're injured, the pain can be really bad. Sometimes it's more than the body can handle. Sometimes, when people are sick, it can cause pain in their body. Sometimes, when people get sick, the sickness destroys them."

"And murders," he added quietly.

"Yes, Andrew," I agreed. "That too."

He thought for a moment, and he said, "Do you think Sylvia was hurt"

"She wasn't in control, Andrew," I said. "We don't know what all the hacker was doing. Maybe she was in a kind of pain, I guess. But she's not hurting now. That pain is gone."

"What do I do now?" he asked me.

"Most people have a funeral. It's to honor a person when they die. They meet in church and then they bury the body. The idea is to always remember them."

Andrew absorbed what I'd said, and thought on it a moment. This was a rare moment of deep consideration. Then, he stood, thanked me, went back to his room.

It was about 2 in the morning when I heard Andrew's usual knock. I had to be at work in five hours, and he knows this. So I open the door and ask what he wants.

"Samuel, do you know how I can arrange a funeral"

Chris shoves the door to his dwelling open with his foot. After swinging open sufficiently, he is greeted by the smiling silhouette of his residential cohort: Danni.

"Hello, Christian" Danni says warmly. "Hey, Danni! You look cheery today" Chris replies, setting his backpack on the hook next to his door. A double take later, he affixes his gaze to Danni. "You look... different too" Chris continues. He sizes Danni up, scanning up and down her frame.

Her usual outfit of a navy blue, tight-fitting bodysuit was instead replaced by basketball shorts and a loose-fitting shirt. "Nice outfit. Did you raid my closet?" Chris asks, simply curious.

"I'll explain later" Danni replies. "I've been waiting all day for you to get home, come on"

She and Chris shuffle into the living room, as Chris kicks his shoes off and flings them towards the door. Chris tumbles forward over the top of the couch while Danni walks around and sits down. She reaches up to his arms and places them on his shoulders, to which he perks his neck up, turning his head towards her as she pulls his coat off.

"Hey- woah, hold on" Chris' voices shifts up an octave as he pulls his arms out from his coat and Danni places it over the couch. "Just let me rub your shoulders like I always do."

Chris shakes his head and acquiesces. Turning around, he snaps his fingers and the TV turns on. Leaving it on the random channel, nothing plays as Danni presses her thumbs into his back. The warmth of her hands calms him as he leans his head back. She pulls his shoulder back and lands his head in her lap.

"Alright, okay" He mutters, sitting upright, this time facing his whole body towards Danni. "What gives, light? You've been staying with me for nearly 6 years and you have never done any of this before"

"What are you referring to? I always massage your back when you return home" She looks mildly confused, tilting her head. "Am I doing something wrong?" She asks innocently, a tint of sadness crawling across her warm, crimson eyes.

"No, no, not at all. Just... you usually do everything in some blue jumpsuit. You know, you smile when I tell jokes or give you good news, you frown when I tell you bad news or have to scold you... This is far different. YOU are different. What happened?" Chris explains. He sits his legs up on the couch, crossing them.

"Oh... well, okay. Let me explain, then..." Danni says, also crossing her legs on the couch with him. "Lately, I've noticed some changes in the way I... process things. Well... I think about you in increasing frequencies. I find myself changing my posture and movements to be closer to the ways you do" She rubs her index finger upon the bridge of her nose. "I don't know when it started, I don't know why either" Danni continues.

"Well, yeah. Everything internal is a black box, you're not going to be able to look inside. You're pretty much just as human as I am in terms of thinking" Chris replies. "So, I get it now. You're, what, wearing my clothes and trying to just hang out with me? You know you can always hang out with me, you don't have to do all this other stuff for me. I don't need favors from you just because you want to be around me"

Danni looks at her hands, closing and opening them, turning them and staring at her fingers and palms. "I suppose you're right. But, I do like doing things for you" Danni mutters to herself. "Yeah, I understand. I like doing things for you too" Chris responds softly. "What do you generally like to do with me?" She asks coyly. "Well, you love going to the aquarium. You like going to the ice rink and skating. Those things are fun" Chris replies.

"Would you do them if it wasn't for me?" Danni asks, straight and bluntly. "Well, yeah. Maybe. I don't know about the rink, I only learned skating because you showed me how, but... I would probably go to the aquarium" Chris ponders the question. Danni sighs, looking down, almost dreary at the reply. "Danni-" Her eyes bolt up to him. He pares back his serious tone; "Do you want something that's... just ours? An activity only you and I do?" Chris asks, "Just us?" He adds.

"Us, yeah" She responds almost instantly. "Us..." She whispers to herself. "Hmm?" Chris nudges at her knee. "Nothing, nothing" She dismissively mutters. Christian's jaw drifts down, his mouth widening as he realizes what Danni said, nearly planting his face in his hands as the clarity of the situation crystalizes before his eyes.

"You realized something about me, didn't you" Chris says in an almost rhetorical tone. "Yes. I have" Danni runs her fingers through her long, black hair. The mere statement is enough to convince him, as his shoulders relax and an enormous sigh of relief launches from his chest. He falls forward into her lap, his face pressed up against her midriff. "I don't like being away from you" Danni indicates. "I know, I know. I like being around you too, Ann" Chris replies. He sits up again and wraps his arms around her, hugging her tightly as she reciprocates. He pulls away to look at her, only to see tears strewn about her face. "Danni, are you okay? What's wrong?" He says, concerned. "I think I love you" Danni replies. "You're not upset about that, are you? You're happy about it, right?" Chris panics. She nods, smiling and sniffling. "Yes, yeah, I'm just processing a lot right now." Chris pulls her into him and they land longways on the couch as she lay on top of him. "Yeah. I am too" He replies, calmly and contently. "I am curious about something" Danni asks. "What's that?" Chris asks, curious.

"For so long, I did these things. These very same things, every day. I chose to hang around you, I chose to go places with you, chose to be in your presence. I've realized that you have likely been feeling the same way as I have for much, much longer. Is that true?"

Christian brushes the hair aside from her face, the bright Saturday afternoon light breaking in through the window and framing a half of her face. His eyes dart from each of her freckles, locking onto each of them briefly before cycling to the next one. "Right now. You're doing it again, the same thing you've done every day for nearly five years. It's one of the things that made me realize it. Why did you never tell me?" She smiles, her face tinged red.

"Before you came here, you were always... told. Commanded" He ponders to her. "Everything that you do, I imagine it's just an old routine built into you from other homes" He continues. "Yeah, they... didn't like how expressive I am. That's why I was moved here with you" Her voice dims down, the remnants of sadness overtaking her grin. "I didn't know what else they commanded you to do. I told you the day you got here that you never had to do anything you didn't want to. I never gave you commands, I never told you what to do, I let you decide. Everything" Christian explains.

"I think I understand what you're getting to" Danni smiles, hearteningly. "I couldn't take the risk of making you think you had to love me" Chris sighs. "I would never forgive myself if you felt commanded to love me"

She leans in and presses her lips against his briefly. Christian's face flares red, and Danni grins.

"You wanted me to make that choice."

####The Freedom of Choice

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